Children's Theatre managing director Kimberly Motes leaving for job in Chicago

The Twin Cities is losing a major arts leader.

Kimberly Motes, who has been managing director at the Children's Theatre Company since 2016, is leaving to become executive director of Chicago Shakespeare Theatre. She takes up her new position in the fall alongside incoming artistic director Edward Hall, who is arrivnig from Britain.

Motes' poaching by one of the Windy City's biggest companies comes on the heels of other announced departures. Peter Rothstein, founding artistic director of Theater Latté Da, left at the end of June to helm the Asolo Repertory Theatre in Sarasota, Fla. And longtime CTC artistic director Peter Brosius has posted his notice to retire in June 2024. Searches on are for replacements for both of those vacancies.

"This is really hard because it's been an amazing 21 years in the Twin Cities," said the 56-year-old Motes. "I hope that I've had an impact that has left the community better than I found it."

"She has led CTC through some of the worst challenges in its history and because of her courage, care and deep understanding of the business of theater, we've come out that much stronger," said CTC board chair Silvia Perez. "And with Peter, she's fostered a culture of joy and welcome and excellence."

With both its artistic and administrative leaders leaving, CTC may seem headless. But Perez notes Motes was recruited for a high-profile opportunity and Brosius is ending his career.

Motes oversaw a staff of more than 400 and a $13.1 million budget at CTC, which annually attracts about 250,000 to its two-stage south Minneapolis playhouse. She steered the company as it deepened its commitments to diversity, equity and inclusion in the wake of the killing of George Floyd, which took place just two miles from the theater. And she helped raise substantial sums for the theater as it built out its commissioning program and came back from COVID-19.

Importantly, Motes and Brosius also resolved historical issues that had festered at the company for decades, settling lawsuits over abuse of child performers in the 1970s and early 1980s.

"We moved through the justice process and provided financial settlements, a survivors' fund and hopefully some healing," Motes said. "The commitment to the safety and well-being of children is embedded strongly in this organization."

A graduate of the College of St. Benedict, Motes began her career at the Washington (D.C.) Ballet. In her 13 years in the nation's capital, she held leadership positions at the Kennedy Center and Arena Stage before returning home to lead the Cowles Center, where she was instrumental in raising millions needed for its opening.

In the Twin Cities, she also served as managing director of Latté Da, whose founder Rothstein was a college chum. And she had a jaunt into education as well, serving in leadership posts at her alma mater and the University of St. Thomas.

CTC had already begun a search for Brosius' replacement. It will now add a replacement for Motes to the to-do list.

"We're looking to have the searches go in parallel and expect to have new leaders in place in early 2024," Perez said. "Kim and Peter have been a dynamite duo. They are leaving a strong foundation."